The White House announced this week that President Donald Trump will host Norway Prime Minister at the White House on Jan. 10.
“The president and prime minister will discuss shared defense and security goals within NATO and the global coalition to defeat ISIS, as well as trade and investment between the United States and Norway,” according to a statement from the White House press office.
Recent weeks have revealed Norway’s continuing support for the United States, particularly since the president announced the move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Earlier this week, Norway officials announced their opposition to a boycott of Israel as a result of Trump’s embassy announcement. And Norway also pledged to closely watch anti-Israel nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Norway was following the lead of Denmark, which announced last week a reduction in support of Palestinian NGO’s.
Similar to Trump, Norway’s Minister of Immigration and Integration Sylvi Listhaug has taken a hard line on immigration into the country as well. In early December, a study Listhaug had ordered revealed that the immigrant population is overrepresented in crime statistics, but it also indicated that crime among the immigrant population has steadily declined for a decade and a half.
Covering about 148,000 square miles, Norway is about the size of Montana and has a population of about 5.3 million. Despite its size, Norway has experienced its own recent terror threats.
In 2014, the country experienced perhaps its biggest threat, when officials reportedly received warning that a group from Syria was planning an attack on the country. In 2017, the day after a the Stockholm terror attack, Norwegian officials arrested a 17-year-old of Russian descent who had a “bomb-like device” and reportedly had ties to Islamic extremists. However, the suspect did not ultimately face a terror charge.
Check back with Homeland411 for updates on the meeting between Trump and Solberg.
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